What Jesus Really Had in Mind

You might find it of interest that we have thrown in a story of the Good Samaritan right in the middle of speaking on the Beatitudes. What does a parable have to do with a list? Quite a lot, in fact. The Beatitudes are not a new list of commands. They are not a collection of do's and don'ts to get us into heaven. We touched on this in an earlier post.

What then does Jesus say to us with his Beatitudes? How are we to live in response to them? 

This is an excellent question, one that is fundamental to this chapter, and Willard is about to answer it in an excellent way.

They serve to clarify Jesus' fundamental message: the free availability of God's rule and righteousness to all of humanity through reliance upon Jesus himself. They do this simply by taking those who, from the human point of view, are regarded as most hopeless, most beyond all possibility of God's blessing or even interest, and exhibiting them as enjoying God's touch and abundant provision from the heavens. 

Think back to the Beatitudes and all the normal interpretations that have gone with them. Did you ever consider them to be a declaration of the "free availability of God's rule and righteousness to all humanity?"

Here they are again from Luke's gospel (Luke 6:20):


Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,  for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you  and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

To further understand this point, consider the three conclusions one could draw from a hearing of the Beatitudes by those who fall into the "blessed" categories. Consider hearing them if you were poor, hungry, and persecuted. Society has told you that you are the scum of the earth. They have pointed to successful people in life and stated that they are blessed, not you. If that were the case, and Jesus were to give you a declaration that they are wrong and you are now blessed, you would likely conclude the following:

1) No human condition excludes blessedness

Jesus has listed "the least of these" and the worst of these and stated they were blessed. If they're not left off the list, no one is.

2) God may come to any person with his care and deliverance

And why not? He came to you, after all in the form of Jesus and healed your injuries and diseases.

3) God does sometimes help those who cannot or do not help themselves

You are listening to his sermon because you cannot help yourself. You came to hear his message of hope and deliverance from an oppressive political and religious regime. And he helped you.

Anyone could come as well as any other. They still can. That is the gospel of the Beatitudes. 

We shall finish today with that overarching message. Tomorrow, we'll examine each listed Beatitude individually for the sake of understanding precisely of whom Jesus was speaking at that time, and for whom it is applicable today.